December 04, 2013

Carter shot his way out of his slump

NEW ORLEANS -- Vince Carter knew eventually his shots would start falling through the nets. If they didn't, he also knew he was going to keep on shooting until they did.

That's why the Dallas Mavericks' forward wasn't as concerned as others about the slump he had been mired in for the past three weeks.

"If I'm open I'm going to shoot the ball and I knew at some point it was going to go back in and it's going to help my team,'' Carter said after Wednesday's 100-97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. "So it's just staying the course.

"I've had the support from my teammates and the coaching staff and I just go out there and just continue to play. I don't stress about or try to go and fix what I know how to do.''

Carter was 5-of-9 from the field and tallied 15 points and grabbed five rebounds against the Pelicans. It marked the first time in 12 games -- since he went 7-of-12 from the field during a Nov. 15 game in Miami -- that Carter has made at least half of his field goal attempts in a game.

"Vince played a great game,'' coach Rick Carlisle said. "He gave us timely shot-making, he gave us defensive rebounding.''